


side trips

by jwonwoo



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 08:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jwonwoo/pseuds/jwonwoo
Summary: Temari runs into the one person she definitely, very much, did Not want to meet in Konoha.





	side trips

**Author's Note:**

> for ivy because she said there wasn't enough shikamaru/temari content and i agreed 
> 
> merry christmas ivy!

"Isn't that Temari?"

She freezes.  _Shit shit shit shit-_

"Oi! Temari!" That's Ino's voice. Temari prays she's alone and not with  _him_. 

She slowly turns around spotting Ino, Chouji, and that Idiot a few feet away. Of course, they're all together. It couldn't have just been Ino, but no, stupid Shikamaru has to be there too. 

"H-Hey," the stutter makes her blush even worse. She can't keep her cool around him and he hasn't even said anything! She's going to murder him for making her so flustered. 

"What are you doing here? I didn't think you'd be back so soon! We just saw you last month," Ino draws her attention away from Shikamaru's perfect face with his stupid little smile. 

"Yeah, just delivering some information on my way back from a mission. I'm leaving tomorrow," and oh how she wished that were true. She will be stopping by the Hokage's office to make them aware of her latest mission, but only because she convinced Gaara that they needed to know. 

It's not that she wanted to stop in Konoha and maybe run into a certain someone. Not at all. 

"Oh well, you should come eat dinner with us! Right Shika? Chouji?" Ino's eyes sparkle with mischief. Temari knows Ino's aware of her feelings for Shikamaru and the girl takes every opportunity to push them together. 

"Yeah sure," Shikamaru shrugs. Temari could strangle him for being so nonchalant about everything. Why does she find it so attractive? Fuck.  

Temari nods and they're on their way to barbeque. The air is sticky with humidity and thunder rumbles in the distance on its way to reprieve the citizens of Konoha from the heat of summer. At least the restaurant is airconditioned, the humidity in Konoha always makes Temari feel gross and messes up her hair. 

Great, her hair is probably ridiculously frizzy from the humidity and she's sitting across from Shikamaru at the booth. Nowhere to hide. She's never been this nervous around a crush. All the girls and boys she's liked have never made her like this. A flustered, stuttering mess. She can't figure it out; is it Shikamaru's intelligence? his skill as a shinobi? his effortlessness? 

"...Temari?" 

"Hm? Yeah?" She looks up at Ino. 

"Where was your mission?" Ino's voice is soft and polite. Temari tells her about her trip to the Land of Hot Water to check out the rumors of unrest that were circulating. Shikamaru watches her sharply probably knowing the details of the mission from his position of aide to the Hokage. 

"You didn't run into any...unexpected trouble did you?" Shikamaru has that intelligent glint to his eyes. Temari recalls the mission details that noted a Konoha team was attacked while traveling in the Land of Hot Water. 

"No, none at all. Simple recon," Shikamaru looks...is that relief? Temari's heartbeat picks up again. Was he concerned? Or did he think she wasn't capable? She wished she could just read his mind. Maybe she should ask Ino about that. 

The rest of the dinner goes fine with small talk on missions and the state of the Shinobi Alliance. Ino and Chouji tune them out as Shikamaru and Temari discuss the political standing of Konoha and Suna in the alliance. It's conversations like this with Shikamaru that make her like him even more. It's the way he seems to value her opinion when he's probably already come to a similar conclusion himself, being a genius and all. For all his fronting about politics being a drag, Shikamaru seems to enjoy talking about it if the upward twitch of his lips is anything to go by. 

As they leave the restaurant, Temari wishes the night wouldn't end. As much as contact with Shikamaru stresses her out, making her body and emotions go haywire; she loves it. 

"Where are you staying? I can walk you back," Shikamaru offers. He rubs the back of his neck. The motion is something Temari would consider a nervous tick for anyone else. On Shikamaru, it looks casual, an afterthought. 

"Sure, I'm staying the night at an empty room in the jounin barracks." 

They walk back in a silence that seems to speak its own language; a language of unspoken feelings and wishes, the cicadas are background music to their loud silence. Temari's glancing at him out of the corner of her eye and she needs to break this quiet before it suffocates her. 

"Isn't the Nara compound the other direction?" 

Apparently, it's the wrong thing to say because Shikamaru trips. Over air or his own feet, she's not sure but there definitely wasn't anything there. 

"I- yeah but I wanted to make sure you didn't get lost or-or something," He laughs awkwardly and hm. Maybe she's been reading him wrong? 

"Or something? Like what a purse-snatcher?" 

"No! No, I know you can protect yourself. Fuck, you could beat my ass in a fight any day. I mean, I just...wanted to make sure you got back okay," He mumbles toward the end and Temari thinks it's one of the cutest things she's ever seen. He rubs the back of his neck and yep, definitely a nervous tick. 

"Well, that's nice of you," Temari can't keep the sly smile off her face because she gets it now. He's just as nervous as her. The redness on the tips of his ears and the way he rambled when she questioned him told her everything she needed to know. 

They're at her door and Shikamaru's pulling at the frayed end of his jounin vest. He's avoiding her eyes while she's about to burst with the realization that maybe her crush is returned. 

She grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers. "Thanks for walking me back, Shikamaru. I'll see you later." 

She squeezes his hand and is about to let go when his grip tightens. Shikamaru looks like he's in shock; eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. Now she's blushing, her whole face probably looks like a tomato. They're still holding hands and fuck why did she think this was a good idea? 

"I can walk you to the gate when you leave, only if you want, I don't have to but I could, I'd like to," Temari's palm is so sweaty she doesn't know how Shikamaru hasn't pulled away yet. 

"I-I'd like that, too." 

He finally drops her hand and they both let out a breath at the same time. The air seems to deflate around them, all the tension slowly flowing out as they look at each other. 

The corners of his lips tilt up into the smallest smile, the same one he gave her at the restaurant, "I'll meet you here then. Goodnight." 

"Goodnight," The moment the door closes she presses back against it, sliding to the floor. Her smile is so big it hurts. She needs to plan her next trip to Konoha.


End file.
